This is a Newsies one-shot from David's point of view. Yes, this is slashy. Don't read this if that weirds you out!

o O o O o O o O o

I'm in love. With Jack Kelly.

Jack of all people.

I don't know how it happened. Actually, yeah, I do know. I didn't want it to happen, and I really didn't expect it.

When I first saw Jack, I admit, I was kinda interested. Not in being in love with him, but you know, I was fascinated by him. He was messing around with the other newsies, and I almost called him immature when he bumped into me. I couldn't though, when I saw how much fun he was having. I just stared at him when he ran away, but I tried not to. Les was fascinated by the older boys, but especially Jack. I warned him not to be, but he was, so I blame him for all of this.

Les was the one who wanted us to be Jack's selling partners. I couldn't say no to my little brother because 1) he's my little brother and a cute kid and 2) because he'd tell Mama and Papa later that I passed up an opportunity to work a seasoned newsie who would probably help me sell a lot more papes. So yeah, I agreed.

That's when all the trouble began.

I'm not even talking about Warden Snyder or the strike, or anything like that.

That's when I started really falling for Jack Kelly.

I first started falling in love with him because he actually cared about my family's situation, about Papa getting hurt at work. He seemed sympathetic, which I didn't understand because his parents weren't even around. Jack included me, and respected the schooling I had gotten. Jack wasn't stupid or anything, but he asked my advice when he started the strike (which I did not want to be involved with at first, by the way. It was that look Jack gave me when he asked me about strikes and unions that got to me). He got me to talk to Spot. He called me smart. A Mouth with a Brain. I kinda liked that. I liked it a lot when Jack said it. I was also physically attracted to him, which scared me at first. I was physically attracted to another boy. I wanted to do unspeakable things with him. Why did this have to happen to me? Mama and Papa would have acted strange toward me from then on if they knew. Maybe they'd even disown me.

So the strike happened, and Jack got caught by Warden Snyder during our big rally.

I came up with a plan to to get him out of the Refuge, the kid's jail, and actually succeeded. I followed Snyder and Jack to Pulitzer's house, and when Jack came outside, I yelled to him and signaled to him. He ran away from Snyder and followed me into an alley.

He yelled at me. Told me I should think about what would happen to my family if I got put in jail. I didn't care, just wanted him out of jail. He told me to go away. He shoved me away. I was so shocked and disappointed, but I did what he said. When I walked away, I kept checking to see if he followed me. He didn't.

I was going to tell him how I felt that night. Guess that didn't work out.

The next time I encountered Jack, he had become a scab. It annoyed me to no end. I know the other guys were angry at the fact that he'd become a scab, and I was too, but I was mostly annoyed... for a number of reasons. First, he got new clothes that I still wanted to rip off him so I could throw him down and have my way with him despite everything that was happening at the time. Second, he was so cold and stiff when I approached him. He acted like he didn't care that all of his best friends were right there, glaring at them, feeling betrayed. Third, he had started the strike. And now he was saying that he only wanted money so he could leave the city as soon as possible.

I said a lot of things that day that I didn't mean.

But he still came to my rescue.

He saved my sister Sarah, Les, and I when Oscar and Morris were harassing us. They ran away and then we stood. Him, still in his scabber clothes, and me, the one who seemed weak. I didn't know what to say, how to act.

"What, you couldn't stay away?"

"Well, I guess I can't be something I ain't."

"A scab?"

"No. Smart."

What did that mean? That it would be smarter for him to get money by being a scab? I didn't know. But I knew I didn't want him to leave. Not before I got a chance to tell him that I loved him.

We won the strike and Snyder got put in jail. You know this part, of course. Do you know that Jack and I almost kissed?

Really.

It was before Jack and I went to see Pulitzer. We had just been joined by the other kid workers, and the crowd was celebrating and cheering. Jack and I stood kinda close, and faced each other. We noticed just how close we were, we turned away from each other. I wonder what woulda happened if I had kissed him then.

We encountered a problem that day. Sarah. My sister.

She and Jack kissed when Jack realized he didn't want to go to Santa Fe (yet). I acted happy for them. I really did. I don't think that either of them could tell. So Sarah and Jack were together. Well, they weren't really together but Sarah started hanging around a lot more often when Jack came over, or when I went to hang out with the newsies. She even came on a pape route with us once or twice. She obviously likes Jack and Jack seems to like her. He's not as affectionate with her as she is with him, but that might just be the kinda person Jack is.

Sometimes Jack looks at me in a weird way when we're selling papes. I wonder if he can read my mind. Does he know that I love him? Does he know that I refuse to give up being a newsie mostly because of him? Does he know what happens when I dream about him? Does he know I fantasize about him on purpose? I wonder. But he doesn't say anything. He treats me normal, and I'm kinda thankful for that.

Jack left me a note inside the one pape I took home for my family earlier, told me he did. And sure enough, when I opened the paper, a note fell out. He wants me to meet him on the roof later, around midnight. My whole family will be asleep. I should be asleep by then, but I'm going to stay awake for Jack. I'll sneak up to the roof, and my family won't know.

o O o O o O o O o

Jack loves me.

o O o O o O o O o

END.